– No investment for Mayo in €104 million worth of regional and enterprise announcements –Fianna Fáil Deputy Leader and TD for Mayo Dara Calleary has accused the government of having no ambition for indigenous enterprise Co. Mayo. It comes on foot of two recent government announcement – one for regional enterprise development funds totalling €29 million and another for the Government Disruptive Technology Fund totalling €75 million – in which Mayo applicants were overlooked.

Deputy Calleary explained, “I raised this directly in the Dáil with Minister Humphreys. The Minister and her Cabinet colleagues need to sit down and have a very frank discussion about a jobs and enterprise plan for Co. Mayo. Despite being home to many excellent local and multinational companies, we are falling way behind in terms of investment. In fact, only 23 out of a total of 3,289 IDA Ireland client visits undertaken between 2011 and 2017 were to Co. Mayo and we have not attracted a new IDA Ireland supported company in a number of years.

“Earlier this month, the government made two announcements – one of €29m in funding for regional enterprise development the other of €75 million for projects under the Disruptive Technologies Fund, and while there were a number of exciting applications from the county, none were approved. I have also been in touch with the Minister with regard to a very successful Mayo company, which submitted an application concerning a new technology which was also turned down.

“There are so many good things happening for people in Mayo who are working hard and investing in themselves, however, they are not getting any help from this government. There are people who have moved to other parts of the country or abroad and want to return home but can’t. Údarás na Gaeltachta is crying out for capital investment – something which Fianna Fáil has made a feature of our budgets. IDA Ireland companies and the Mayo local enterprise office need more resources.

“The Minister for Rural & Community Development has himself referenced the fact that there is an imbalance between urban and rural areas. This will continue as long as this government fails to have ambition for counties like Mayo.

“Dublin is already under severe pressure. IDA investment should be encouraged outside of the capital, where there is the capacity for housing and a quality of life.

“Over the next few weeks we will see people coming home for Christmas. Many of these people would love to stay at home, work here and set up a life here. Unfortunately, Fine Gael is not giving them the opportunity to do that. We need to see a passion and determination from the Minister and the Government to match that of the Mayo people. Only then will things change”, concluded Deputy Calleary.